Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the story of how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa.

To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He's stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.

Because his books are weird. Strong. Creepy. Hard.
Catch you by surprise. Talk about delicate and important issues in a way you
just would not expect.

Grasshopper Jungle left me with a giant question mark
on my face, probably because it's not an easy book, but I liked it in spite of
this and because of this. A different and innovative book, it is a great proof
of how good Smith is and it represents an original story in a genre which is
slowly becoming a bit repetitive.

The main character is Austin Szerba, a teenage
boy, apparenly like any other: he lives in a town in Iowa where there is not
much to do and has a very cute girlfrind, Shann, and a gay bestfriend, Robby. His
brother is in Afghanistan. There are giant mantises in the story. There are
some issues like sexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, confusion, friendship,
violence. There are some f*** words. Also, an apocalypse and let's pay
attention to the end of the human race. There is a boy who, with a candor you
hardly find in these kind of books and a straightforwardness which seems almost
rude, talks about sex, about his sexual attraction to his girlfriend AND his
bestfriend. Well, I really don't know how to sum up this novel. It is all I've
mentioned and much more, making this book one of the most bizarre I've ever
read.

The style is that of Andrew Smith: dry, clean,
direct, incisive, sharp, over the top. The characters are fascinanting in an
almost morbid way, clearly defined, absolutely real. Nothing is realer than a
confused teenager, perpetually horny. Every character in this story shines with
their own light, which shows their flaws, weaknesses and strong points.

In my opinion, this book have the potential to
be quite controversial and certainly it is not for those who are not up for a
bit of gore or who frown at the idea of teenagers thinking about sex, smoking
and cursing. However, the balance between absurdity and realism which Smith has
reach in this book won me over and I've devoured Grasshopper Jungle.

If you're feeling up for an adventure…give it a
try. Read it. And get ready to be surprised.

Andrew Smith is the award-winning author of
several Young Adult novels, including the critically acclaimed Winger (Starred reviews in Publishers
Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, and Shelf Awareness—an Amazon “Best of the
Year”) and (A YALSA BFYA, and Starred reviews
and Best of the Year in both Publishers Weekly and Booklist).

He is a native-born Californian who spent
most of his formative years traveling the world. His university studies focused
on Political Science, Journalism, and Literature. He has published numerous
short stories and articles. Grasshopper
Jungle, coming February 11, 2014, is his seventh novel. He lives
in Southern California.

Identikit

I'm affected by an illness which makes me read and read and read. I started loving books when I was a little child and never stopped. Thrillers, young adult, contemporary fiction, classic novels, fantasy, chick-it...BRING IT ON!